Balancing gravity and humor in a tale of teen pregnancy

In their debut YA novel Mothership, authors Martin Leicht and Isla Neal create an uproarious, action-packed tale narrated by an expectant teen mother at a boarding school in outer space. While those attributes alone should make readers curious about the book—the first in a planned trilogy—the best part of this futuristic adventure...

New York City goes gothic in Clare’s thrilling urban fantasy

The Mortal Instruments series has been a blockbuster success—generating three bestsellers, attracting thousands of fans around the world and inspiring a movie adaptation now in the works. But for author Cassandra Clare, the whirlwind of attention and acclaim has come as a complete surprise.“Everything having to do with [the...

‘Monstrumologist’ author peeks through his fingers

In last year’s The Monstrumologist, Rick Yancey introduced readers to a terrifying world much like our own, where monsters are not only real but also the subject of scientific study. Now the adventures of Dr. Pellinore Warthrop and his young ward, Will Henry, continue in The Curse of the Wendigo. Readers who couldn’t put down The...

Road trip! Two teens follow a new path on the drive of a lifetime

Two teenagers take off in a whirlwind journey and a quest for answers in Jennifer E. Smith’s second book for young adults, You Are Here. Along the way, they find out a little about each other and a lot about themselves.Emma Healy and Peter Finnegan, both on the brink of their 17th birthdays, embark on a road trip—in matching Mustang...

Rock 'n' roll in the Jim Crow South

Many of Ronald Kidd's novels for children and young adults are built on keen historical research. Monkey Town (2006) explored East Tennessee in the 1920s during the infamous Scopes trial on the teaching of evolution. Kidd's latest, On Beale Street, offers readers a trip back to the Memphis of the mid-1950s, a city mired in Jim Crow...